When a truth-challenged looker (Mary Astor) seeks his help, Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) enters a maze-like case involving a jeweled bird statue and characters such as the “fat man” and Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre) hunting it. The ever-cool Spade disarms Cairo without dropping the cigarette from his mouth in one scene and repeatedly outsmarts one of the fat man's lackeys, and the police, with ease. Spade is who all the other movie private eyes want to be when they grow up.

2. ‘Vertigo' (1958)

Scottie Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) quits the police force after his fear of heights plays a role in the downfall of a fellow officer. He does an old pal a favor by following his wife (Kim Novak), but he quickly ends up falling for her. Love turns to obsession after their relationship takes a tragic turn in this Alfred Hitchcock thriller.

3. ‘Murder, My Sweet' (1945)

The troubles begin for Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) when his office is invaded by a lovesick Moose, a man not a beast, but just barely. Moose hires Marlowe to find a singer named Velma Valento but before long, he's also tangled up in a murder involving a missing jade necklace. Powell brings a dry sense of humor to the role, and this engrossing noir never disappoints.

4. ‘Harper' (1966)

When wealthy iceberg Mrs. Sampson (Lauren Bacall) hires Lew Harper (Paul Newman) to find her missing husband, he approaches the job with a mixture of amusement and boredom that belies his single-minded interest in solving the case. He efficiently deploys charm to gain crucial information as he collects beatings like some do baseball cards while trying to convince his wife not to go through with the divorce.

5. ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' (1939)

Sleuth Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) needs all of his famous brain cells when he matches wits with his archenemy Professor Moriarty (George Zucco). The fiendish Moriarty distracts Holmes with a murder case he knows he won't be able to resist while plotting a far more audacious crime under his nose. This clever caper leaves behind a trail of fine acting and suspense.

6. ‘Murder on the Orient Express' (1974)

When an American businessman is murdered on a train that happens to be carrying famed sleuth Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney), the bombastic Belgian has a dozen suspects to contend with in this star-studded Agatha Christie whodunit. Finney's Poirot, whose hair looks like an oil slick, is more sharp-tongued than some of the other incarnations of the character and stands out as one of the best.

7. ‘The Big Sleep' (1946)

A simple case of blackmail turns out to be anything but for private detective Philip Marlowe (Humprhey Bogart) as bodies start turning up and his employer's daughter (Lauren Bacall) gives his head a good turn. Just say the names Bogart and Bacall and you can work up a bit of static electricity.

8. ‘Kiss Me Deadly' (1955)

When it comes to likable characters, this film is fresh out. In one of the best opening scenes of any movie, a desperate woman clad in a trench coat runs down a dark road before jumping out in front of a car and forcing it to stop. The car is driven by parasitic detective Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker), who is pulled into a case that soon claims the hitchhiker's life and nearly his own.

9. ‘Out of the Past' (1947)

When Jeff (Robert Mitchum) is hired by power player Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas) to bring back his girl, the detective's heart pulls a fast one on his head when he finds Katie (Jane Greer), a gal who works more angles than a pool player. Mitchum doesn't act so much as he just smolders. And few people can make charm seem so menacing like Douglas does here in this slice of noir nirvana.

10. ‘Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid' (1982)

Carl Reiner's film noir sendup stars Steve Martin as private eye Rigby Reardon, who probably got into the business after reading “Investigating for Dummys.” When the beautiful Juliet (Rachel Ward) hires Rigby to find out if her father's fatal accident was really murder, he's all over her ... er, the case. Thanks to some clever editing (think “Forrest Gump”), Martin interacts with legends such as Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant and James Cagney. Private detective movies tend to be short on big laughs. That is not the case here.

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